Meeting Summary
November 14, 2014
Council Members Present:
Carlo Colella, Vice President for Administration and Finance (Chair)
Linda Clement, Vice President for Student Affairs
Steve Fetter, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs
Russell Furr, Director of the Department of Environmental Safety
Scott Lupin, Associate Director of Environmental Safety and Director of the Office of Sustainability
David Lovell, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
David Cooper, Assistant Director of IT Operations
Matthew Dahlhausen, Graduate Student, Mechanical Engineering
Ori Gutin, Director of Sustainability, Student Government Association
Guests:
Bob Reuning, Associate Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer, Facilities Management
Maya Spaur, Student, Student Sustainability Council
Meeting start time: 10:00
Meeting Highlights
Welcome and Review of October 3, 2014 Meeting Minutes
The council welcomed Bob Reuning, the new Associate Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer for
Facilities Management.
Highlights from the SustainableUMD Magazine and Celebration Event
Scott Lupin summarized the success of the SustainableUMD Magazine publication. The Celebration
Event that launched the magazine was held on October 29 and attended by approximately 150 people.
Collin Beavan, better known as “No Impact Man,” was the keynote speaker for the event.
Discussion on the University Sustainability Goals
Scott Lupin presented the revised Sustainability Goals, which were developed in order to bring together
several sustainability related goals that were previously in numerous campus documents. The major
goal areas are:
- Carbon neutrality
- Education for Sustainability
- Local and Global Impact
- Smart Growth
- Sustainable Water Use
- Waste Minimization
Scott stated that the goals will likely be modified in the future as the university progresses with its
sustainability initiatives. Future progress reports will be structured around these goal areas. The goals
document will be used for both external purposes (sharing the university’s sustainability initiatives with
other campuses) and internal purposes (setting clear priorities for sustainability initiatives on campus).
Letter to Maryland Day Planning Committee
The council expressed concern regarding the environmental impact of the Maryland Day event.
Individually packaged meals, as well as free giveaways, generate unnecessary waste. The Council
unanimously approved of a letter to be sent to the Maryland Day Planning Committee, which included
five major areas that the event could improve its environmental impact.
1. Continue to provide adequate alternatives to bottled water, such as bottle filling stations
2. Identify alternatives to the traditional cotton volunteer t-shirts
3. Minimize waste from lunches by eliminating the individually packaged lunches
4. Enhance the publicity for green initiatives that occur at the event
5. Embrace the spirit of Maryland Day and minimize giveaways
The Council unanimously approved of the letter to be sent by Carlo Colella to the Maryland Day Planning
Committee.
Procurement Letter – EPP Policy on General Purpose Paper
Procurement, with support from the Office of Sustainability, issued a memo to unit buyers reminding
them of the campus Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy. In particular, the Council sought
issuance of the memo to remind buyers of the EPP mandate to only purchase 100% post-consumer
recycled content copy paper. The memo also identified sugar cane based paper as an alternative.
University Sustainability Fund Projects
The University Sustainability Fund has changed the deadlines for submitting project proposals as a pilot
project. The deadline for faculty and staff to submit proposals is now October 1, and the deadline for
students to submit proposals is January 15. Twenty proposals have been submitted as of the October 1
deadline. The following are proposals that the Council reviewed.
Campus Creek Restoration
The Campus Creek Restoration proposal requested $50,000 from the Council to pay for a contractor to
develop a restoration plan. The State of Maryland has agreed to pay $1.5 million toward construction
costs, however the university must provide the funding for the restoration design and permitting. The
restoration would focus on mitigating the extensive erosion that has taken place along the creek and
improve two existing ponds on the Golf Course. The proposal is of particular interest to the Council
because restoration of the Campus Creek was an area identified in need of improvement in the
Sustainable Water Use and Watershed Report.
Some members of the Council expressed concerned over the proposal because they did not feel that it
showed how the proposed improvements would be measured following construction. The Council
discussed whether this effort should also be supported by a review of pesticide and fertilizer use at the
Golf Course. The Council also discussed using water from the two golf course ponds for irrigation, which
was not included in the proposal. The Council unanimously approved the request for $50,000 from the
Sustainability Fund with the condition that the Golf Course undertake a review to identify and
implement opportunities that would reduce pollutant loading into Campus Creek.
The Next Wave of Environmentalism: Expanding Organics Collection into Academic and Administrative
Buildings on the University of Maryland, College Park Campus
Facilities Management requested $51,681 to implement a compost collection system in all campus
academic and administrative buildings by August 31, 2016.
Some members of the Council expressed concern over the proposal as it was not clear whether the
composting would actually reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from campus. However, other
members of the Council argued that the campus needed a consistent waste collection system, as the
sporadic use of compost bins in some buildings created confusion as to what should be thrown away,
recycled and composted. The Council decided to delay voting on the proposal until the following areas
of concern are addressed:
1. The Council did not believe there were enough funds allocated for signs and decals, and would
like to see a greater emphasis on this component of the compost program.
2. Specific data needs to be presented to show a positive environmental impact.
3. A cost/benefit analysis needs to be completed to show a positive overall impact.
Student Affairs Waste Assessment
Student Affairs submitted a proposal requesting $18,000 to complete a waste audit from several
buildings on campus. The purpose of the assessment is to assess the adequacy of the current waste
separation system in Student Affairs buildings and to determine the benefit of expanding compostable
waste collection. The last waste audit completed on campus occurred in 2008. The Council agreed to
approve the request for $18,000.
New Issues/Issues from Committee Members
Carlo Colella asked Sally DeLeon, of the Office of Sustainability, to explain to the Council why the 2005
campus greenhouse gas baseline emissions changed. Sally explained that the EPA changed the emission
factor for landfills that did not recover and beneficially use methane. The new emission factor results in
higher emissions from such facilities. Since the university largely sent its refuse to a landfill that did not
recover methane in 2005, the greenhouse gas emission baseline increased. Presently, the university
sends its refuse to a landfill that collects the methane it generates.
Adjourn: 11:55
To:
Peter Weiler
Vice President, University Relations
From: Carlo Colella
Vice President, Administration and Finance
On behalf of the University Sustainability Council
Date:
November 14, 2014
Maryland Day is a showcase event for the University of Maryland and our opportunity to engage the
community in learning, exploration, and discovery. The day offers more than 400 festivities including
exhibits, workshops, hands-on demonstrations and performances that highlight the exciting and unique
work in which University of Maryland staff, students and faculty participate.
An event of this magnitude, with thousands of visitors each year, can have a significant environmental
impact. Over the years, the Maryland Day Steering and Planning Committees have adopted many
practices that have reduced the environmental impact of this event. But, as the university works
towards meeting its carbon neutral goal by 2050, we must continually find new ways to reduce our
energy, waste and water footprints. To that end, and on behalf of the University Sustainability Council,
we wish to provide you with a number of recommendations for the continued greening of Maryland
Day:
1. Continue to provide adequate alternatives to bottled water.
Issue:
Bottled water is primarily a waste issue. It is commonly sold at Maryland Day and its purchase
popularity increases with the outdoor temperature. While plastic water bottles are recyclable,
about 70 percent end up in the trash. Almost 40 percent of bottled water actually started out as tap
water, but costs 1,000 times more for consumers. Bottled water could become an image issue for
the University of Maryland as increasing numbers of people, especially students, associate bottled
water with unsustainable behavior.
Opportunities:
• Advertise the network of more than 80 bottle filling stations in academic and administrative
buildings on campus. Detailed map can be found at
http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/content/culture/filling_stations_map.php
• Continue to provide and refill portable water bottle filling stations on McKeldin Mall and
Hornbake Plaza. Work with Dining Services to ensure that portable filling stations are staffed
with volunteers and refilled on a regular basis. Work with the Student Sustainability Committee
of the SGA to tap into student volunteer resources.
• Encourage visitors to bring their own bottle and refill at our many indoor and outdoor filtered
water stations.
• Provide a reusable water bottle as a Maryland Day giveaway.
2. Identify alternatives to traditional cotton volunteer t-shirts.
Issue:
On average, 8,000 traditional cotton t-shirts are produced and handed out to volunteers for
Maryland Day. Traditional cotton is a resource intensive fabric that uses 713 gallons of water,
generates 8.8 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and creates about a pound of solid waste for
each shirt. The distribution of traditional t-shirts could also become an image issue for the
University as visitors, students and staff become more informed about their environmental impact.
Opportunities:
• Print t-shirts without a date on them so that one shirt design could be used over multiple years.
New volunteers could be given a shirt as required, but returning volunteers could wear their
shirt from the previous year.
• Provide recycled cotton blend t-shirts to volunteers. Recycled cotton blend shirts have a
significantly lower environmental impact than traditional cotton shirts but have a higher cost.
• Develop and print Maryland Day buttons/badges that can help identify Maryland Day
volunteers. These can be collected at the end of the day and used in subsequent years.
• Provide an alternative “thank-you”. Examples include: a free ice cream from the Dairy, a coupon
for a free coffee, or an entry ticket to win a larger prize.
3. Minimize the impact of volunteer lunches.
Issue: Roughly 5,000 volunteers received lunches for Maryland Day. These lunches are provided in a
plastic bag and include: a plastic-wrapped sandwich, a single use water bottle, individually-packaged
cookies and pretzels. A significant waste footprint can be attributed to these lunches.
Opportunities:
• Provide buffet lunches for volunteers in multiple, centrally-located spaces.
• Offer a lunch voucher for volunteers to select a lunch from one of our many Dining Services
locations. Most food packaging on Maryland Day is compostable.
• Allow larger volunteer groups to pick-up lunches as pre-prepared platters, minimizing the need
for individual packaging.
• Provide alternative volunteer compensation.
4. Enhance profile of green initiatives at the Maryland Day.
Issue:
The green initiatives undertaken for Maryland Day do not receive the profile they deserve. Higher
education is often seen as a societal leader in making sustainability a business priority. This is a
prime opportunity for the University of Maryland to showcase its efforts to host a green event. The
general public who receive the printed program or visit the website may be unaware of green
initiatives such as the bike valet, water filling stations, composting, and more. Environmental
information is fragmented and often incomplete.
Opportunities:
• Highlight sustainability initiatives in the Maryland Day printed program.
• Create a webpage (with its own tab) on the Maryland Day home page to highlight our green
initiatives. This page can become a model for other organizations planning large events. Extend
this information to the Maryland Day app.
•
The Office of Sustainability can provide “Get Caught Green Handed” volunteers who will
recognize and reward visitors who are taking environmentally-friendly steps. Over time, green
behavior can become part of the culture of this event.
5. Embrace the spirit of Maryland Day and minimize giveaways.
Issue:
Many visitors have adopted the behavior of coming to Maryland Day with an empty bag, hoping to
fill it with a variety of small, often disposable, giveaway items. The true value of Maryland Day is the
interactions between visitors and our students, staff and faculty. Our exhibitors often feel like they
must provide a giveaway item for our visitors in order for them to have a great Maryland Day
experience.
Opportunities:
• Through Planning Committee meetings, promote experiences rather than giveaways.
• Work with the Office of Sustainability to provide a list of environmentally-friendly and minimally
packaged giveaways or prizes for planning committee members.
• Consider more durable promotional items that directly connect to the mission/goals of each
college or department.
• Encourage exhibitors to enhance language in their program write-ups to showcase their learning
opportunities or interactivity, rather than prizes.
• Offer a prize for most sustainable or most interactive Maryland Day exhibit.
Maryland Day is also a wonderful opportunity to share our campus with prospective students. Research,
in Princeton Review's 2008 and 2009 College Hopes & Worries Survey as well as from UCLA's Higher
Education Research Institute, shows that a significant, and growing, proportion of prospective students
are making decisions about where to apply and attend based on campus sustainability performance.
The University of Maryland can demonstrate its sustainability performance to prospective students on
Maryland Day by showcasing our green initiatives.
Many campus events are now waste free, from the annual Crab Feast to football and basketball games.
The University Sustainability Council encourages you and your Planning and Steering Committees to
continue to find ways to make Maryland Day a showcase of learning and sustainability. The Student
Sustainability Committee of the SGA and The Office of Sustainability can provide you with other
suggestions and opportunities and can assist you in executing the suggestions listed above.